Posted by – Stephanie Carroll, Manager of Business Development & Community Relations

The discussion of the need for more talent in Michigan is one that economic development professionals are having with businesses more and more often these days.  There are numerous jobs available, especially in engineering, but not enough skilled people to fill those vacancies.

Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend an event at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) celebrating a unique program designed to bridge the talent gap.

In 2011, after recognizing a need for assisting military veterans returning to the workplace, a program called the Veterans Engineering Transition Program was created.  This program allows any U.S. Veteran to earn a college degree while earning a competitive salary as an engineer at FCA.

If you think about it, the men and women who serve our country are building robots, performing mechanical work on vehicles, and engaging in other high level projects that perfectly compliment a job in engineering.   It is believed that these real world experiences set veterans apart from traditional college students in terms of knowledge and productivity.

We wanted the Auburn Hills community to know about FCA’s efforts to support our veterans.  To date, over 100 workers have been through this program.  It was an honor to meet the men and women who are a part of the program and the engineer who started it all.